Hot on the market

1:1 (Trust Film Sales)Director: Annette K. OlesenA young man is badly beaten up on his way home from a night out and taken to hospital in a coma. The police have no clues, and his family struggle with suspicion and rumors.

Alpha Dog (Capitol Films)Director: Nick CassavetesCast: Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis, Sharon StoneStatus: CompletedInspired by true events: A young drug dealer kidnaps the 15-year-old brother of a man in debt to him. Within three days, the boy is dead.

Bobby (Arclight Films)Director: Emilio EstevezCast: Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Elijah WoodStatus: Post-productionA fictionalized account of the various people whose lives intersect in the hours leading up to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

The Chinese Botanist’s Daughters (EuropaCorp)Director: Dai SijieCast: Lena Jam-PanoiStatus: CompletedChina, 10 years ago: A grumpy botanist lives with his daughter and an orphan girl who came to study botany. Passion ignites between the girls in a world where such a love is forbidden.

Death Defying Acts (Myriad Pictures)Director: Gillian ArmstrongCast: Guy PearceStatus: Pre-productionA stunningly beautiful psychic imposter and her equally devious daughter attempt to con the famous Harry Houdini during a high-profile seance to contact his mother, whose death has haunted him for 13 years.

Family Hero (UGC)Director: Thierry KlifaCast: Emmanuelle Beart, Gerard Lanvin, Catherine DeneuveStatus: In productionInheriting cabaret club the Blue Parrot brings together a fragmented family who would prefer to stay apart.

Der Freie Wille (Bavaria Intl.)Director: Matthias GlasnerCast: Juergen Vogel, Sabine Timoteo, Manfred ZapatkaStatus: Post-productionAfter 12 years in prison, a serial rapist is released on parole. When he falls in love with the daughter of his new boss, he struggles to balance his new freedom with his sexuality.

Ghetto (Beta Cinema)Director: Audrius JuzenasCast: Heino Ferch, Erika Marozsan, Sebastian HuelkStatus: CompletedDrama about the Jewish ghetto of Vilnius in Lithuania, adapted from Joshua Sobol’s play. A lover of thearts, but also brutally inhuman, an SS commandant falls in love with a beautiful Jewish actress and opens a theater in the ghetto, which is then used to save many lives.

Hana (Shochiku)Director: Hirokazu Kore-Eda Status: Post-productionKore-Eda follows the success of “Nobody Knows” with a drama about a young samurai who must avenge his father’s death.

The Last Kiss (Lakeshore)Director: Tony GoldwynCast: Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Rachel Bilson, Casey Affleck, Tom WilkinsonStatus: Post-productionThe romantic misadventures of five best friends weave a poignant story of how love and commitment can turn grown men into boys.

The Lives of Others (Beta Cinema)Director: Florian Henkel von DonnersmarkCast: Martina Gedek, Ulrich Tukur, Ulrich Muehe, Sebastian KochStatus: CompletedEast Berlin, 1984: When a Socialist Party loyalist is asked to spy on a playwright and his girlfriend, he enters a world of love, literature and freethinking. But once started, the machinery of oppression cannot be stopped.

Man About Town (Media 8 Entertainment)Director: Mike BinderCast: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Romijn, John Cleese, Gina Gershon, Bai LingStatus: CompletedA Hollywood agent seems to have it all: success, money and a beautiful wife. But when he finds out that his wife is cheating on him with his top client, his perfect life unravels.

Nightwatching (Contentfilm Intl.)Director: Peter GreenawayStatus: In pre-productionTo mark the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt’s birth, pic explores the mystery behind his infamous painting “The Nightwatch,” which consolidated his reputation as a master painter but also destroyed him socially and financially.

Nina’s Journey (NonStop Sales)Director: Lena EinhornCast: Petra Nielsen, Agnieszka Grochowska, Maria ChwalibogStatus: CompetedNina Einhorn’s life from childhood in 1930s Poland, where she survived the Jewish and Polish uprisings, to her death in Sweden.

The Peter Pan Formula (CJ Entertainment)Director: Cho Chang-HoCast: On Ju-Wan, Kim Ho-JungStatus: CompletedA teenager struggles with life on his own when his mother falls into a coma and he finds out the secret of his birth.

A Prairie Home Companion (Capitol Films)Director: Robert AltmanCast: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Tommy Lee Jones, John C. Reilly, Woody HarrelsonColorful group of performers, stagehands and musicians meet for broadcast of a radio program that’s been on air for more than 30 years. There’s death, gossip and a great deal of beautiful music, but the show must go on.

Princesas (Sogepaq)Director: Fernando Leon de AranoaCast: Candela Pena, Micaela NevarezStatus: CompletedA story about love and friendship between two women set in the world of prostitution in Spain.

The Proposition (The Works)Director: John HillcoatWriter: Nick CaveCast: Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, John Hurt, David Wenham, Emily WatsonStatus: CompletedIn 1880s Australia, Charlie Burns is presented with an impossible proposition: The only way to save his younger brother from the gallows is to track down and kill his psychotic older brother.

The Queen (Pathe Intl.)Director: Stephen FrearsCast: Helen Mirren, Michael SheenStatus: Post-productionWhen news of Princess Diana’s death breaks upon a shocked public, Queen Elizabeth II is unable to comprehend their response to the tragedy. As the unprecedented outpouring of grief and anger grows stronger, the popular new Prime Minister Tony Blair must find a way to reconnect the queen with the British public.

Le Regard (NonStop Sales)Director: Nour-Eddine LakhmariCast: Jacques Zabor, Florian Cadiou, Abdellah DidaneStatus: CompletedPhotographer Tueis returns to Morocco where, as a soldier, he took part in atrocities in this drama about abuse of power and forgiveness.

Der Rote Kakadu (Bavaria Intl.)Director: Dominik GrafCast: Max Riemelt, Jessica Schwarz, Ronald ZehrfeldStatus: CompletedEast Germany, 1961: Siggi moves to Dresden and falls in love with Luise, a young poet. Through her, he gets to know the club Roter Kakadu, whose freethinking clientele have attracted the attention of the secret service.

The Secret (EuropaCorp)Director: Vincent PerezCast: David Duchovny, Lili TaylorStatus: Post-productionRemake of Japanese supernatural drama “Himitsu,” about an emotional triangle between a 16-year-old girl, her mother and father.

Snow Cake (Fortissimo)Director: Marc EvansCast: Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie-Anne MossStatus: CompletedA story of love and friendship and the unorthodox relationship between a man escaping his past, an autistic mother coping with the loss of her daughter and a passionate woman who keeps love at arm’s length.

Venus (The Works)Director: Roger MichellWriter: Hanif KureishiCast: Peter O’Toole, Leslie Phillips, Jodie Whittaker, Vanessa RedgraveStatus: In productionThe lives of two veteran English actors is disrupted by the arrival of a grandniece from the provinces.

We Shall Overcome (Trust Film Sales)Director: Niels Arden OplevCast: Bent Mejding, Anders W. Berthelsen, Jens Jorn SpottagStatus: Completed1969: Frits spends his summer glued to the screen of the family’s first television set, soaking up Martin Luther King’s speeches. When he returns to school, he finds the courage to rebel against his tyrannical headmaster.

COMEDY

Big Nothing (Pathe Intl.)Director: Jean-Baptiste AndreaCast: David Schwimmer, Simon Pegg, Alice EveStatus: In productionFrustrated teacher takes revenge on life by joining forces with an unpredictable scammer and his ambitious girlfriend in blackmail scheme.

Comeback Season (Myriad Pictures)Director: Bruce McCullochCast: Ray Liotta, Glenne Headly, Shaun SiposStatus: CompletedAfter cheating on his wife, Walter moves in with the high school heartthrob as they try to win back the hearts of the women they truly love.

King and the Clown (CJ Entertainment)Director: Lee Jun-ikCast: Karm Woo-sung, Jung Jin-young, Kang Sung-yeon, Lee Joon-giStatus: CompletedBased on an award-winning Korean play, pic tells the story of two clowns arrested for staging a play that satirizes the king. They are given a chance to save their lives if they can make the king laugh.

Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (Arclight Films)Director: Albert BrooksCast: Albert Brooks, Sheetal Sheth, Fred Dalton ThompsonStatus: CompletedDetermined to mend relations with the Muslim community, the U.S. government sends a comedian on a mission to Pakistan and India to find out what makes Muslims laugh.

School for Scoundrels (Weinstein Co.)Director: Todd PhilipsCast: Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Heder, Jacinda BarrettStatus: In productionDown-on-his-luck meter reader enrolls in a confidence-building class so he can win the heart of his dream girl. But his professor has set his sights on the same woman.

She’s the Man (Lakeshore Entertainment)Director: Andy FickmanCast: Amanda BynesStatus: Post-productionA high school girl pretends to be her twin brother to make the boys’ football team. With women chasing her and men off-limits, will falling in love put an end to her game?

A Ticket to Outer Space (Gaumont)Director: Eric LartigauCast: Kad Merad, Olivier Baroux, Guillaume Canet, Marina FoisStatus: CompletedFrench government launches a lottery to give two civilians the chance to stay in the European space station. Everything goes smoothly until one of the winners takes the station hostage.

The Valet (Gaumont)Director: Francis VeberCast: Gad Elmaleh, Daniel Auteuil, Kristin Scott Thomas, Virginie LedoyenStatus: Post-productionSnapped with his mistress by a paparazzo, billionaire Pierre Levasseur tries to avoid divorce by telling his wife that a passer-by, who is a parking valet, is his mistress’s boyfriend.

LOVE & ROMANCE

Away From Her (Hanway Films)Director: Sarah PolleyCast: Julie ChristieStatus: Pre-productionAfter 40 years of marriage, an aging couple are still deeply in love. But when the wife begins to show signs of Alzheimer’s, cracks in the marriage begin to show and she moves into a nursing home. A month later, her husband is allowed to visit her for the first time, only to discover she’s fallen for another resident.

Blood and Chocolate (Lakeshore Entertainment)Director: Katja von GarnierCast: Agnes Bruckner, Hugh Dancy, Olivier MartinezStatus: In productionVivian has spent her life on the run from the truth … she is a werewolf. When her affections for an American threaten to expose her family’s secret, she must choose between love for a human and betraying the vows of her family.

Closing the Ring (Contentfilm Intl.)Director: Richard AttenboroughCast: Shirley MacLaine, Mischa Barton, Christopher Plummer, Chris Evans, Pete PostlethwaiteStatus: Pre-productionRomantic epic set in present day and WWII about an American woman who honored a wartime promise with a lifetime of denial and how the discovery of a gold ring on a distant Irish hillside brings her back to life.

Love and Other Disasters (EuropaCorp)Director: Alek KeshishianCast: Brittany Murphy, Matthew RhysStatus: Post-productionAssistant editor at Vogue acts as a catalyst in the love lives of a glittering group of friends.

The Science of Sleep (Gaumont)Director: Michel GondryCast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alain ChabatStatus: Post-productionWarner Independent paid between $6 million and $7 mil
lion at Sundance for U.S., U.K. and Canadian rights for the sci-fi pic.

THRILLER/ACTION

The Backwoods (Filmax Intl.)Director: Koldo SerraCast: Gary Oldman, Paddy Considine, Virginie LedoyenStatus: Post-productionEnglish couple spend the summer in a remote house in north of Spain. The tranquility is shattered when they discover a girl with horribly deformed hands locked in a cabin in the woods.

Black Book (Contentfilm Intl.)Director: Paul VerhoevenCast: Carice van Houten, Thom Hoffman, Halina ReijnStatus: In productionSeptember 1944: Beautiful, feisty Jewish revue star has fled Nazi Germany and gone into hiding in the Netherlands, where she joins the Resistance and tries to confront the traitor responsible for the destruction of her family.

Adrift (Summit Entertainment)Director: Hans HornCast: Eric Dane, Ali Hillis, Susan May PrattStatus: CompletedFriends’ day cruise in the Gulf of Mexico goes horribly wrong when everybody jumps into the water only to realize they forgot to let down the ladder, they have no way back on to the yacht and baby Sara is still onboard.

Invisible Waves (Fortissimo Films)Director: Pen-ek RatanaruangCast: Asano Tadanobu, Eric Tsang, Gang Hye JungStatus: CompletedA hardworking chef living in Macau kills his lover and is consumed with guilt. To escape his inner turmoil and arrest, he travels to Thailand, but his troubles follow him.

Mastermind (Svensk Filmindustri)Director: Peter FlinthCast: Krister Henriksson, Johanna SaellstroemStatus: CompletedA woman is found hanging in her apartment, her body drained of blood. The police embark on a cat-and-mouse game with the killer.

Morgan’s Summit (Arclight Films)Director: Tom SchulmanCast: Bruce WillisStatus: Pre-productionRadio DJ Morgan preaches the good in humanity over the airwaves. When his son is murdered in a road-rage incident while trying to help another driver, humanity is no longer on his mind.

Shinobi (Shochiku)Director: Ten ShimoyamaCast: Joe Odagiri, Yukie NakamaStatus: CompletedDestined for love, ordered to kill — a love story set against the backdrop of two Ninja clans at war with one another.

The Stone Council (UGC)Director: Guillaume NiclouxCast: Monica Bellucci, Catherine Deneuve, Moritz BleibtreuStatus: In productionHaunted by nightmares since the disappearance of her adopted son Liu-San, Diane throws herself into the hunt for her child. But who is Liu-San really?

Typhoon (CJ Entertainment)Director: Kwak Kyung-TaekCast: Dong-gun Jan, Jung-jae Lee, Mi-yeaon LeeStatus: CompletedA modern-day pirate threatens the Korean peninsula with a terror attack that could result in death in North and South Korea.

FAMILY/CHILDRENHelen the Baby Fox (Shochiku) Status: CompletedA boy finds a deaf and blind baby fox, separated from its parents in the wilderness of the northernmost island of Japan. The vet wants to put the fox down, but the boy is determined to keep her alive.

Lorange, Muffin andDartanjang (Svensk Filmindustri)Director: Igor VeyshtaginCreator: Barbro LindgrenStatus: CompletedAlthough Lorange is a grown-up, all he wants to do is listen to loud pop music and avoid work, which suits his son Muffin just fine.

The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar (Nordisk Film Intl.)Director: Kasper BarfoedCast: Julie Grundtvig Wester, Nicklas Svale Andersen, Christian Heldbo WienbergStatus: CompletedThirteen-year-old Katrine is spending the summer on the Baltic island of Bornholm. With the help of her friends she sets out to solve the mystery of a lost treasure buried by Knights Templar in the Middle Ages.

Opal Dream (Becker Films)Director: Peter CattaneoCast: Vince Colosimo, Jacqueline McKenzie, Christian ByersStatus: CompletedA young girl’s relationship with her imaginary friends resonates throughout her town in the Australian Outback.

HORRORBloodline (Filmax Intl.)Director: Nacho CerdaCast: Anastasia Hille, Karel Roden, Carlos Reig, Valentin GanevStatus: Post-productionA U.S.-based producer returns home to Russia to investigate the mysterious death of her mother. The only clue is to be found in an isolated, abandoned farm in the mountains.

Borderland (Lionsgate Films)Director: Zev BermanCast: Brian Presley, Martha Higareda, Jake MuxworthyStatus: Post-productionThree American college grads take a road trip south of the Mexican border where they encounter dismemberment and death.

Fido (Lionsgate Films)Director: Andrew CurrieCast: Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy ConnollyStatus: Post-productionWelcome to Willard, a small town lost in the idyllic ’50s, where the sun shines every day, everybody knows their neighbor and rotting zombies deliver the mail.

Frostbite (NonStop Sales)Director: Anders BankeCast: Petra Nielsen, Grete Havneskoeld, Emma AbergStatus: CompletedA vampire story about a mother and her daughter who move to a small snowbound town in northern Sweden. Slowly it becomes clear that the place holds a dark secret.Grind House (Weinstein Co.)Director: Quentin Tarantino, Robert RodriguezStatus: Pre-productionA compilation of short horror tales written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.

The Horror Chronicl
es (three-picture anthology) (Media 8 Entertainment)Status: Pre-production“Living Hell” — Director: Richard JeffriesA top-secret military project is discovered at an abandoned army base, unleashing a virulent organism on the world.“The Crevice” Director: Neal Marshall StevensA church collapses, trapping a young girl inside with terrifying demons. “Buried Alive” Director: Art MonterastelliA group of college kids take a weekend trip to a remote hunting lodge. Their pranks on each other turn serious when a ghost bent on revenge turns on them … one at a time.